Ecumenical discussion founded upon historic Christian orthodoxy

Old Allegiances

In thinking about Tim’s previous post, I can’t help but ask how long ought we to remain allied to older quasi-nationalist traditions?

Much of what goes for “denominational distinctives” is as socio-political as it is theological. Historically this was certainly the case as every Protestant body tended to divide according to its country. Do I need to be a member of the Church of England, with a bishop appointed by the Crown and all? What about the Netherlands Reformed Church? How long should the Westminster Assembly maintain its authority? How much of the tradition that cropped up around the Regulative Principle of Worship would have simply never existed had it not been for the religious persecution in Scotland?

I ask these questions, not to dismiss the various traditions, but rather to reckon with our position in history. We are in America (well, those of us that are anyways…). We aren’t under the King of England, nor the Protector of Saxony. Some of us have pretty strained connections to the historical documents I mentioned. For instance, the Westminster was called by the Parliament of England, but later adopted by the Church of Scotland. It made its way over to North America, and now most people become associated with it simply because they want to join a Calvinist Church.

I don’t have the option to subscribe to the 2nd Helvetic Confession. I can’t become French Reformed. Honestly, I’d have to go three or four States over to find a 3 Forms of Unity church. So I get Westminster by a sort of default.

I don’t mind Westminster. I think that on the whole I can affirm it. I take a few exceptions, and as Jonathan stated earlier, I tend to think that the Reformed over-reached on the iconoclasm issue. But how am I to chose my allegiance today? Where should my commitments be?

Is it honest of me to sign off on Westminster for pragmatic reasons? Should I instead move three States over? Or should I write a new confession?

One side of me wants to benefit from the tradition and “recover” what was lost, but another side of me would love to see a Reformed and Catholic confession of faith from the American Church. That’s fraught with all sorts of organizational difficulties, as well as questions of authority and enforcement, but my view of the future still thinks that it would be great to have something like that.

I don’t have any good answers for now. Sorry about that. Maybe y’all can give me something.

Steven, you make a good point. I agree. The broader reformed traditions in this country get their pedigree from a European continental reformed tradition. In the CREC, we exhibit a unique attempt to grab hold to the best in these traditions yet in an American context. Through these lenses, a comment a read by a poster on Wilson’s blog about the CREC not having “presbyterial succession” and hence, it is not a legitimate presbyterian denomination, is laughable. We should discern the times in which we live. Perhaps the CRE will make an American Augsburg–but who will sign off on it?? Semper Reformanda . . .